It’s in the bag.

It’s in the bag.

We’re now formally in the “handing-someone-a-bottle-of wine” season, and while most of us can simply stick a bow on it and pass it on, there are times when that bottle needs a little more oomph than a plain brown paper bag or a crinkled sheet of...
A kinder, gentler lip balm

A kinder, gentler lip balm

Angry winter weather is coming – yes, even on the left coast, where a cold, dry wind comes off the ocean and ages my skin (and forces me to eat leftover pumpkin pies for breakfast. A la mode). This winter, though, I am more prepared – I have Chapstuff....
Wrap it up to go

Wrap it up to go

I love the hustle of the holiday season: cooking, shopping and giving are three of my favorite things. What I really don’t like is finding the right wrapping paper for my latest treasures – and it can get ugly when I have multiple smaller gifts, for...
Rockin’ Blocks

Rockin’ Blocks

Whenever I go shopping for baby toys, I am dismayed at how many toy developers design their blocks in sherbet-y pastels  even though babies prefer the colors high contrast and vivid for the first few months. (I am also wondering who decided babies love...
Kitchen Helper

Kitchen Helper

I really enjoy cooking for my family. What I don’t enjoy are the non-cooking parts of cooking – deciding what everyone is going to eat, and all that chopping, mincing prep work.Well we just found a really revolutionary service that take those two items off...
What, me worry?

What, me worry?

I have all sorts of tricks for when I worry too much, because I do worry — too much and too often. Worrying happens to be a family trait. Unfortunately, that means I have a pint-sized worrier in my own house, and he can’t...
Be good in honor of National Family Day.

Be good in honor of National Family Day.

My kids are already super kind, generous little people, but that doesn’t mean a little more conscious kindness isn’t in order. That’s where the folks at  Boom Boom! come in. Their line of pay-it-forward cards (which we’ve already fallen in...
Switching On The Moon

Switching On The Moon

Though I was long ago (like, on day one) over the nightly battle that was part of our bedtime routine, I never, ever tired of the snuggly part, where we wrapped up and read as much as possible before admitting it was time for lights out. And I’m never tired,...